特斯拉與日產(chǎn)的自動(dòng)泊車技術(shù)之爭(zhēng)
最近,,日產(chǎn)汽車公司展示了一款最新移動(dòng)應(yīng)用的原型產(chǎn)品,它可以讓聆風(fēng)電動(dòng)汽車在無(wú)人駕駛的情況下實(shí)現(xiàn)自動(dòng)泊車,。安裝在車身的傳感器和攝像頭可以幫助轎車找到空閑的停車位,,然后輕松地泊車入位。
我們現(xiàn)在還不清楚日產(chǎn)何時(shí)會(huì)將自動(dòng)泊車功能應(yīng)用到聆風(fēng)或其它量產(chǎn)車型上,。日產(chǎn)發(fā)言人對(duì)《財(cái)富》表示,,該公司計(jì)劃推出一款所謂的“泊車助手”,推出時(shí)間可能是2018年,。
與此同時(shí),,最新版特斯拉Model S電動(dòng)轎車的車主也體驗(yàn)了一番自動(dòng)泊車技術(shù)。通過(guò)下載一款軟件,,他們能夠讓自己的轎車自動(dòng)泊車入位——時(shí)間就是當(dāng)下,,而不是幾年以后。
特斯拉和日產(chǎn)圍繞自動(dòng)泊車技術(shù)所采取的不同戰(zhàn)略,,顯示出這兩家電動(dòng)汽車行業(yè)的領(lǐng)軍企業(yè)迥然不同的經(jīng)營(yíng)理念,。
日產(chǎn)公司利用雄厚的資本和浸淫汽車行業(yè)多年的經(jīng)驗(yàn),穩(wěn)扎穩(wěn)打地將一項(xiàng)新技術(shù)推向大眾市場(chǎng),。而特斯拉正在利用自己的攪局者身份和高科技背景,,通過(guò)一種全新的方式,迅速地將一項(xiàng)早期技術(shù)交付給一小群富裕用戶使用,。
這兩種不同的策略一方面說(shuō)明,,電動(dòng)汽車行業(yè)仍處在初級(jí)發(fā)展階段。但它們同時(shí)也顯示,圍繞著電動(dòng)汽車的設(shè)計(jì),、制造和銷售,,科技業(yè)和汽車業(yè)未來(lái)將會(huì)展開(kāi)怎樣的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。
目前,,谷歌和蘋(píng)果等科技巨頭正在迅速成立汽車部門(mén),。與此同時(shí),全球最大的幾家汽車公司也紛紛在硅谷開(kāi)設(shè)辦事處,,以招攬工程人才和最新的創(chuàng)意,。而汽車市場(chǎng)的主流客戶現(xiàn)在更是片刻也離不開(kāi)手機(jī),也早已習(xí)慣了無(wú)處不在的數(shù)據(jù)連接,,以及Uber等拼車和專車服務(wù),。
通過(guò)與法國(guó)汽車巨頭雷諾合作,日產(chǎn)公司已經(jīng)形成了一張龐大的全球銷售網(wǎng)絡(luò),。全球每賣出10臺(tái)汽車,,就有一臺(tái)是雷諾—日產(chǎn)的產(chǎn)品。而單單是日產(chǎn)公司2015財(cái)年的利潤(rùn)就有望達(dá)到44億美元,。不過(guò)這個(gè)成績(jī)?cè)谙喈?dāng)程度上要?dú)w功于它的傳統(tǒng)汽油動(dòng)力SUV在美國(guó)市場(chǎng)的火爆銷量。
這家已有80年歷史的日本汽車公司秉持的戰(zhàn)略是,,把電動(dòng)汽車和自動(dòng)駕駛技術(shù)以主流消費(fèi)者可以接受的價(jià)格推廣到最廣闊的市場(chǎng)上,。過(guò)去5年,日產(chǎn)已經(jīng)售出了近30萬(wàn)輛電動(dòng)汽車,,其中包括20萬(wàn)輛聆風(fēng)電動(dòng)汽車——聆風(fēng)也是日產(chǎn)的首款電動(dòng)汽車,,售價(jià)大約在3萬(wàn)美元左右。 |
Recently, Japanese automaker Nissan showed off a prototype of a mobile app that could automatically park a LEAF electric car without a driver. Sensors and cameras helped the car find an open parking spot and then slowly ease into it.
It’s unclear exactly when Nissan might make self-parking available for the LEAF, or any of its others cars. A Nissan spokesperson told Fortune the company planned to offer something called “parking assist,” potentially in 2018.
Meanwhile this weekend, owners of the latest version of Tesla’s Model S electric car also got a glimpse of self-parking technology. By downloading some software, drivers could get their Model S cars to park on their own—today, not years from now.
Tesla and Nissan’s divergent strategies around self-parking cars highlights a pair of very different philosophies from two of the most important companies leading the electric car industry.
Nissan is using its large balance sheet and auto industry credentials to deliver new technology in a step-by-step manner to a mass market audience. Tesla is using its outsider status and tech industry roots to quickly deliver early technology to a more narrow and affluent audience in an entirely new way.
The opposite approaches put a spotlight on the early state of the electric car industry. But they also show how the tech industry and the auto sector are beginning to battle over the future of how cars are designed, made, and sold.
Tech companies like Googleand Appleare rapidly building auto divisions. while the world’s biggest car companies are opening up Silicon Valley offices to tap into engineering talent and new ideas. At stake is the massive market for automobiles for drivers who are glued to cell phones, raised on ubiquitous data connections, and comfortable with car sharing and on-demand car services like Uber.
Nissan, in partnership with French giant Renault, has massive global reach through their sales of one in ten of all cars globally. Nissan, alone, expects an annual profit of $4.4 billion for fiscal year 2015, partly off the back of strong sales of traditional gas-powered SUVs in the U.S.
The 80-year-old company’s strategy is to bring both electric cars and autonomous car technology to the widest market possible at a price that mainstream consumers can afford. Over the past five years, Nissan has sold close to 300,000 electric vehicles including about 200,000 electric LEAFs, its pioneering electric car priced at around $30,000. |
相比之下,,成立僅13年的硅谷寵兒特斯拉總共可能只賣出了不到10萬(wàn)輛電動(dòng)汽車,,其中包括Model S轎車、Model X SUV,,還有早幾年生產(chǎn)的Roadster跑車(截止2015年9月,,特斯拉已經(jīng)發(fā)貨的Model S轎車達(dá)到9萬(wàn)輛)。
雖然這個(gè)數(shù)量還不到日產(chǎn)的三分之一,,但考慮到特斯拉只是一家年輕的新銳公司,,這個(gè)成績(jī)還是相當(dāng)可觀的。更何況,,特斯拉CEO伊隆?馬斯克還是通過(guò)一套與日產(chǎn)完全不同的戰(zhàn)略獲得這個(gè)成績(jī)的,。
到目前為止,特斯拉大多數(shù)車型的售價(jià)動(dòng)輒便高達(dá)六位數(shù),,并具備一些高大上的豪華功能,。盡管特斯拉也計(jì)劃在2017年推出相對(duì)平價(jià)的Model 3電動(dòng)轎車,但富裕人群依然是該公司最重要的目標(biāo)客戶。
上周在日產(chǎn)公司硅谷辦事處的一次活動(dòng)上,,日產(chǎn)CEO卡洛斯?高森強(qiáng)調(diào)指出,,該公司的主要精力仍將集中在平價(jià)市場(chǎng)上。他指出,,售價(jià)10萬(wàn)美元的電動(dòng)汽車仍然是一個(gè)“小眾市場(chǎng)”,,并表示日產(chǎn)不會(huì)讓自動(dòng)駕駛技術(shù)“在一些車子上進(jìn)行公測(cè)?!彪m然這兩句評(píng)論都沒(méi)有直接指向特斯拉,,但其中的意味不言而喻。
根據(jù)日產(chǎn)公司的計(jì)劃,,只有等自動(dòng)駕駛技術(shù)的價(jià)格降下來(lái)了,,能夠在一款售價(jià)3萬(wàn)美元的汽車上安全運(yùn)行時(shí),日產(chǎn)才會(huì)將這項(xiàng)技術(shù)添加到自己的車型中,。日產(chǎn)表示,,未來(lái)四年將有十款日產(chǎn)車型搭載自動(dòng)駕駛功能,而且它們都將是“價(jià)格可以接受的大眾市場(chǎng)車型,?!?/p> |
In contrast, 13-year old Silicon Valley darling Tesla has likely delivered close to 100,000 vehicles. That includes shipments of its electric Model S sedan, its Model X SUV, and its early Roadster sports cars (Tesla had delivered 90,000 Model S cars as of the end of November).
Although that amount is just a third of that of Nissan, the number is still remarkable considering it’s coming from a young upstart. Furthermore, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has accomplished it by following a different strategy to Nissan.
To date, many of Tesla’s cars have had six-figure price tags and high-end luxury features. While Tesla plans to launch a lower-priced electric Model 3 in 2017, its business was built by making electric cars for wealthy drivers.
On the other hand, at Nissan’s event at its Silicon Valley office last week, CEO Carlos Ghosn emphasized the car company’s mass market goals. He referred to the $100,000 electric car as “a niche” and said that Nissan isn’t making autonomous technology to be “beta-tested on a few vehicles.” Neither comments directly referred to Tesla, but they easily could have.
Instead, Nissan plans to only add autonomous technology to its cars when the feature is inexpensive and widely available enough to work safely on a $30,000 car. The company says 10 of its models will get autonomous features over the next four years, and those cars will be “mainstream, mass-market cars at affordable prices.” |
與日產(chǎn)的做法形成鮮明對(duì)比的是,特斯拉最近對(duì)其自動(dòng)駕駛軟件進(jìn)行了升級(jí),。雖然特斯拉目前的輻射范圍(以及利潤(rùn))還不能和日產(chǎn)相比,,但它的發(fā)展速度非常快,,同時(shí)也致力于依靠車型搭載的無(wú)線網(wǎng)絡(luò)不斷推出創(chuàng)新功能,。
特斯拉比世界上任何一家汽車公司都更加重視利用軟件和無(wú)線網(wǎng)絡(luò)來(lái)對(duì)車子進(jìn)行頻繁升級(jí)。特斯拉的軟硬件架構(gòu)(以及該公司對(duì)軟硬件架構(gòu)進(jìn)行優(yōu)化的意愿)形成了一個(gè)巨大的優(yōu)勢(shì),,使該公司的行動(dòng)和反應(yīng)要顯著快于其他任何一家汽車制造商,。
但推出這些新功能也是具有一定風(fēng)險(xiǎn)性的。比如在最近一次軟件升級(jí)中,,特斯拉也對(duì)此前部署的自動(dòng)駕駛功能進(jìn)行了一些新限制,。原因或許是有些車主會(huì)使用自動(dòng)駕駛功能進(jìn)行一些不安全的駕駛行為(還有人把這些危險(xiǎn)駕駛行為拍成視頻放在了網(wǎng)上)??逅?高森表示,,日產(chǎn)不會(huì)把“公測(cè)”版功能(也就是早期版本,有時(shí)甚至是不成熟的版本)發(fā)布給用戶,,但特斯拉似乎并不排斥讓車主參加“公測(cè)”,。
這兩家公司面對(duì)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的心態(tài),或許才是它們?cè)陔妱?dòng)汽車戰(zhàn)略上的最大區(qū)別,。日產(chǎn)最初決定搞電動(dòng)汽車也是承擔(dān)了一定的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的,。但相比之下,,直到現(xiàn)在,特斯拉還更像是一家愿意迎接一個(gè)又一個(gè)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的初創(chuàng)公司,。一個(gè)明顯的例子是,,特斯拉正在賭上全部身家,在內(nèi)華達(dá)州里諾市郊興建一座耗資50億美元的電池工廠,,用來(lái)生產(chǎn)Model 3轎車的電池,。
這兩家公司都在從根本上塑造襁褓期的電動(dòng)汽車行業(yè)的形態(tài)。至于這兩家公司分別會(huì)給行業(yè)帶來(lái)哪些長(zhǎng)期影響,,則取決于你認(rèn)為汽車行業(yè)的變革將是漸進(jìn)的,,還是突變的。
電動(dòng)汽車仍然是一個(gè)非常年輕的行業(yè),,未來(lái)一些年,,馬路上行駛的越來(lái)越多的汽車都將由電池提供動(dòng)力。幾家最重要的公司如何將第一批汽車交付到車主手上,,無(wú)疑將在相當(dāng)程度上決定未來(lái)電動(dòng)汽車市場(chǎng)的形態(tài),。
除了電動(dòng)汽車,放眼整個(gè)汽車行業(yè),,隨著汽車變得更加互聯(lián)化,、共享化、按需化,、自動(dòng)化和環(huán)?;麄€(gè)行業(yè)必然會(huì)經(jīng)歷一次重大的轉(zhuǎn)型,。未來(lái)的車主們將追求一種和父輩們完全不同的用車體驗(yàn)。那么究竟是誰(shuí)更有可能贏得他們的芳心,?是科技業(yè)的新銳,,還是傳統(tǒng)汽車業(yè)的翹楚?(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:樸成奎 審校:任文科 |
It’s a marked contrast to Tesla’s autonomous software upgrade this past weekend. Though Tesla doesn’t have the reach of Nissan (or profits yet), it is willing to move fast and push out innovative new features over its cars’ wireless connections.
More than any other car company in the world, Tesla has focused on using software and wireless connectivity to routinely upgrade its cars. This hardware and software infrastructure (and the company’s willingness to optimize it) is a huge advantage that lets Tesla act—or react—more quickly than pretty much any other automotive manufacturer.
But rolling out those features can also be risky. For example, in its latest software upgrade, Tesla alsoadded new restrictions to its previously deployed autopilot features. The move was likely due to customers using autopilot to do some unsafe driving (and posting videos of that risky driving online). Unlike how Ghosn said Nissan isn’t releasing “beta” (early, sometimes unbaked versions) features to customers, Tesla appears to want to embrace that “beta” mentality.
It may be the companies’ appetites for risk that is one of the biggest differences between Tesla and Nissan’s electric car strategies. Nissan’s initial move to sell electric cars carried some modest element of risk, but Tesla still operates like a startup, and is willing to pile on risk after risk. For example, Tesla is basically betting the farm on building a $5 billion battery factory outside Reno, Nev. that will churn out batteries for its Model 3 car.
Both companies are fundamentally shaping the nascent electric car industry. But their individual impact over the long term depends on whether you think the automotive industry will change through evolution or revolution.
The electric car industry is still very young, and many more cars on the road will be powered by batteries in the years to come. But the market will no doubt be shaped over time by how the most important companies get their first cars into the hands of customers.
Beyond electric cars, the auto industry, in general, is set to undergo significant transformation as cars become more connected, more shared, more on-demand, more autonomous, and more environmentally-friendly. Future drivers will be looking for a different car experience than their parents. Will it be the tech industry or the traditional auto industry that will more likely be able to win them over? |
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